(Photo: Coahoma County Sheriff's Office)

Circuit Court Judge Charles Webster will allow prosecutors to proceed with their case against Lawrence Reed, who is accused of killing Marco McMillian, a Clarksdale, Mississippi, mayoral candidate.

McMillian, 34, was found dead near a Mississippi River levee in February. McMillian was an openly gay Democratic candidate who was running for mayor in conservative Clarksdale. He worked as a consultant for nonprofit organizations, served four years as international executive director of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc., and raised funds at Alabama A&M University as well as Jackson State University. He was running to fill the seat soon to be vacated by Mayor Henry Espy Jr.

Phone records revealed that McMillian and Reed had relations prior to the candidate’s death, the sheriff's office investigator Marene Jones said. According to Reed, after inviting him to a party, McMillian drove him to a back street, stopped his vehicle, then watched pornography on his phone.

The prosecutors are accusing Reed of strangling McMillian, dumping his body near a Mississippi River levee, pouring gasoline on him and setting him on fire.

— Dorkys Ramos contributed to this article.

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